/ ɪksˈtʃekə(r); NAmE / noun [ sing. ]
1.
(often the Exchequer ) (in Britain) the government department that controls public money
SYN treasury
—see also Chancellor of the Exchequer
2.
the public or national supply of money :
This resulted in a considerable loss to the exchequer.
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WORD ORIGIN
Middle English : from Old French eschequier , from medieval Latin scaccarium chessboard, from scaccus , via Arabic from Persian šāh king. The original sense was chessboard . Current senses derive from the Norman department of state dealing with the royal revenues, named Exchequer from the chequered tablecloth on which accounts were kept using counters. The spelling was influenced by Latin ex- out.